Meet Nicole! I loved doing this photo shoot that showcases who she is an her brand as an Aesthetic Influencer. We used the lobby and front of Le Meredien, which looked amazing with several different looks and some of her favorite inspiration. The book she used had the quote "Choose your dreams over your fears." pretty perfect! So fun working with you Nicole!!

As a wedding guest, when you read your invitation and it says "Beach Formal" or "Black Tie Optional" ever wondered: "What the heck am I suppose to wear?" Our friends over at The Black Tux shared with us this really cool guide that will never leave you wondering what style you should wear again!

Sometimes you just have to get creative and do something
totally different and unique! That’s what
concept photo shoots are for! Doing this
kind of work just makes our brains ooze with creativity. This one was collaboration between Events in
Bloom, Aquali Bridal, and us of course, to do something very woodland outdoor,
fairy like. Why not? The color palette was brown with eggplant and
green accents with moss, vines, and natural décor. Medard Park has these humungous trees with
winding roots that grown in the most interesting directions. The ceremony would be up on the top of one of
these trees with flowers cascading down to meet the guests as they would watch
below. The reception would be
inter-mingled within the canopy of the trees with tall florals that include
succulants and vines. If you’re outside,
you would of course suspend the cake from a tree sitting on a metal floral
plate and the stationary and signs would be visible but blend in with the surroundings. How memorable would that be for
guests? Just sayin:-)

We are very selective about what bridal shows we participate in, but when Brides Against Breast Cancer called me about their upcoming show I had to say yes! Almost everyone knows a friend of family member who has had breast cancer, last year for me it was my mom. Fortunately, they caught it very early, and after having a single mastectomy she is doing great! So, this cause is near and dear to me:-) If you don't know about BABC, here's some stats I pulled from their website:

Brides Against Breast Cancer sells all brands of designer and couture, new and lovingly worn wedding gowns.

Brides Against Breast Cancer will contribute $2 million dollars to help people impacted by cancer this year.

Brides Against Breast Cancer will distribute more than 10,000 breast “self-exam" cards yearly.

Gown prices start as low as $99 and range up to $3,900.

Gowns are available in sizes from 2 to 24.

The average gown price is $600.

We carry bridal accessories including tiaras, veils, slips and more.

We have a dress to fit any bridal budget and wedding theme. A convenient layaway plan is available.

The most popular gown styles are mermaid, lace, and gowns with a "sweetheart" neckline.

We were so excited to work with The 1930 Grande Room, and great team of event professionals as they hosted an open house and fashion show. The theme and concept for the decor was the Wizard of Oz. The 1930 Grande Room is a really unique wedding and event space, and home to StoneChef Catering. Guests entered on one side to a step and repeat complete with Dorothy, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scare Crow, and Toto. I LOVE the center pieces Events in Bloom designed, ruby slippers with red and yellow florals and yellow bricks. Above the bar hung a giant floral bike wheel creation, and on the bar, floral spinning tornadoes. The other side of the space was a lounge area, where you could even watch Anthony and his team create all their delicious cuisine. All the brides that attended got front row seating for the fashion show and some swag. Anglo Couture showcased their bridesmaids dresses and bridal gowns. Toto, (who happens to be my little dog Abita:-) even walked down the runway!

One of the best things about what we do is if we want to do something really fun and totally creative we can! We partnered up with Linda, from Linda Marie Weddings and Events, and Jana from Events in Bloom and they really came up with the theme and concept and it turned out beautifully! Besides the photography, really my only contribution was the dogs:-) Linda explains it much better then me so you can see the detail below. Styled shoots are a lot of time and works so we are really purposeful in making sure to get them published so it's a win win for everyone! This one is featured on Weddingwire today as well!!

"The styled shoot's name is "Fete
Des Fleurs" (meaning Feast of Flowers in French). The original inspiration was from a
swatch of striped fabric which was used for the napkins, the ties in the groom,
our adorable puppy groom, as well as the sash around the bride and the bridal
bouquet. Two of the main colors from that swatch were used for the
linens and the florals, which I imagined being perfect against a lush green
natural backdrop. The reasoning behind the feast of
flowers was to create an atmosphere of feasting in a french garden, with a
combination of florals, succulents, vegetables, and fruits as the main
courses. Our paper suite was gold and pink
French font, flourish and romantic. Our striped candy kisses was a sweet
ending to a wonderful meal! The "piece de resistance" was the striped organza Hayley
Paige wedding gown, playing off the stripes in the inspiration fabric. Which was shipped straight from the runway in New York"

Last week I was a mentor/instructor at After Dark in St. Louis. It's a really awesome experience for photographers to increase both the business and shooting skills through small group and hands on interaction. I attended my first one in Vegas a few years ago, Kansas city last year and it was so much fun being a mentor this year! I taught a number of business/workflow sessions but I did get to have some fun too:-) For the shooting portion there is a team of hair and makeup stylists along with all different models from babies to fashion and this year zombies too:-) Annie Radigan was our hair and makeup stylist and Tifani Ehren Davis was our amazing model for this shoot. We really just worked on lighting, posing, and I threw in some post processing stuff that I usually don't do. Union Station, right downtown is like eye candy for photographers. Here's a few of my favs!

The ladies from the Ritz Carlton Salons in Sarasota and Orlando did a hands workshop with Tearsheet team editorial hair stylist Giovanni Guintalo. Kristen, from Novella Style Group created some of the looks with wardrobe and accessories and the wedding gows were from The Perfect Dress. Giovanni is a trensetter in the fashion week and bridal arena, he gets to work with some of my favorites like Badgley Mischka, Kenneth Pool, and Christos. I love anything fashion related, it helps me to be more creative and look for interesting ways to pose and use lighting. The stylists did 2 different looks on each of 4 models over two days while I captured those looks in different locations, with different lighting, and lots of different poses and movement. The Ritz Carlton Beach club is one of my favorite properties to photograph weddings in, and that was where we did everything. It was nice to have time to play with different lighting situations and things I don't usually have time to do like with reflectors and using off camera flash in a totally different way. Here's some of my favorites and some of the stylists hard at work as well.........

I'll be working with the Ritz Carlton Salon and celebrity hairdresser Giovanni Guintoli for a 2 day workshop and we are looking for 5 models. You'll get recognition with the Ritz Carlton and potential advertising for Ritz Carlton and local magazines, exposure to future photo shoots, and a photo portfolio for the 2 days. So it's a pretty awesome opportunity!

Here's what we're looking for:

Preferably need to have below shoulder length hair.. any color (they'll do color for you if necessary too:-)

Connie is into theater, acting, and film and wanted to do some updated lifestyle photos. I love doing sessions like these very editorial magazine like. Connie has such a sweet and fun personality! Her dream is to work in film and I hope she can use some of these photos to make it happen!

Jackie is what I would call and everyday super-woman. She is a wife, mother of 3, serves our contry in the Air Force, and in her spare time does fitness competitions and modeling! Seriously, that is amazing!! She is a beautiful person inside and out, and I've really enjoyed getting to know her. We did this shoot with several different looks for both physique and fashion so just wanted to share a few of my favs!

I love anything New Orleans related and last year we did this styled concept shoot to something a little fun and different. It's in Ybor City in Tampa which is as close as I can get this year to the French Quarter:-) My Inspired Wedding Blog and Poptastic Bride featured us!!! Here's all the fabulous peeps involved:

Jenice was screaming with happiness in my office when we did her unveiling session, it was I think the best response I've gotten:-) She is a gorgeous and talented author and artist so it was pretty easy!! Stylewise she just wanted a fashion like session with some great textures for her book and professional use. Here's some of my favs.....

Mark your calendars! Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011 | 9am-6pm International Academy of Design and Technology. Part of the kickoff activities for Fashion Week Tampa Bay will be Blogger Brilliance, which will bring together fashion, food, travel and lifestyle bloggers from across the country. The goal is to share the love of social media, branding and more!! I'm super excited to be one of the panel members for this conference! You can find out more info and register HERE!

For Cassandra's 16th birthday she wanted to do a really fun fashionista session. She is such a gorgeous and sweet girl with an amazing future ahead of her. What a treasure to get to work with her and her mom! Here's some sweet sneaks of our session!

I lived in New Orleans for a little while but didn't get to experience Mardi Gras so I'm always wishing I'm there on Fat Tuesday:-) Part of what I love about my profession is coming up with creative ideas to continue improving and making them happen! So this was a little bit of inspiration that turned into a really cool shoot and it will even be featured soon in Tampa Bay Wedding Styles online magazine which is also pretty exciting. We actually did the session on fat Tuesday and Ybor is as close as I could get to the French Quarter feel. Feathers, bead covered florals and mask, beautiful wedding gown and fabulous models, Bobby and Cienne at the Roosevelt set the scene. I just wanted a simple, rough background and an alleyway I could light purple so we used a video light and off camera flash to create a dramatic effect. Here's a little behind the scenes and also some of my favs.